The present invention relates to customer interaction systems, and more specifically, to an improved method and apparatus for use in a contact center. The technique enables agents to handle multiple voice calls simultaneously in a manner similar to the way in which agents can handle xe2x80x9ctext chatxe2x80x9d calls simultaneously.
Today""s modern call centers often include multiple channels of communication between customers or potential customers and agents employed by the contact center itself. Such contact centers are usually utilized by large companies serving large numbers of customers. Examples include credit card companies, airlines, etc.
Typically, xe2x80x9ccontactsxe2x80x9d arrive from customers seeking answers to questions, changes in their accounts, instructions on how to proceed with certain transactions, etc. When such contacts arrive, they are routed to an appropriate agent for processing.
The interaction between customer and agent may take a variety of forms. The most common contact is voice over a conventional public switched telephone network (PSTN). For example, a customer may call a toll free number designated by a credit card company in order to inquire regarding the status of the customer""s account.
Recently however, contacts may occur between agents and customers utilizing other types of interactions. For example, customers may engage in xe2x80x9cweb chatxe2x80x9d wherein customers exchange typed messages with an agent on a semi-real time (i.e. near real time) basis. This type of exchange facilitates near real time communication between agent and consumer without a telephone call.
One advantage of web chat communications over voice communications is the fact that an agent can service multiple customers simultaneously. More specifically, the agents xe2x80x9cbandwidthxe2x80x9d does not have to be dedicated to a single customer contact. Instead, the agent can service plural customer contacts substantially simultaneously. After the agent types out or transmits a reply to one customer, he or she can then accept another question or reply to another customer. Moreover, the information transmitted to a customer could direct that customer to a different website or other contact center for a solution to the customer""s issue.
The exchange of information between customer and agent in a web chat environment is thus more efficient than in a voice communication mode. More specifically, the real time voice communication mode involves full dedication of an agent to a single customer for the duration of the interaction. Web chat, on the other hand, allows a single agent to multiplex his or her time to service plural customer interactions. Although the web chat interaction may not be in real time, it is close to real time.
In view of the above, it can be appreciated that the prior art lacks a system for implementing near real time communications among an agent and plural customers when the interaction is not a web chat, but instead is a phone call.
The above and other problems of the prior art are overcome in accordance with the present invention, which relates to a method and apparatus for achieving the advantages of web chat communications in voice sessions. In accordance with the invention, an arriving contact in the form of a voice call is processed to determine which agent should be assigned the call. If possible, the call is routed to the agent. If the agent is busy on another call, a prerecorded message asks the user to state his question. The agent may then process and respond to messages recorded in one or more queues, in a similar manner to that utilized in web chat interactions in order to provide near real time communications with plural customers. Once the agent responds to a first voice recording, the next recording can be listened to. The system results in somewhat less than real time communication, but the voice communication is almost in real time.
In preferred embodiments, the voice contacts are queued in an appropriate order so that the agent may select or respond as appropriate. Additionally, the system may provide for playback at slightly faster than real time, permitting an agent to xe2x80x9ccatch upxe2x80x9d while listening to a recorded message.
In accordance with the foregoing, the responses from the agent(s) to the customers are transmitted substantially in real time, while the incoming audio signals from the customers are transmitted in slightly less than real time. As a result, a single agent may respond to plural customers orally while the communications session between the customers and the agent remain xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d.